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Why Is It Important in the Art Field to Think about Art Events?1
Beti Žerovc Translated by Rawley Grau
- Because today the art event is a very pertinent medium of expression in this field. - Because in the art field, which “by tradition and definition” is committed to static works, i.e. paintings and sculptures, the art event is, in fact, a paradox. - Because, given this fact, the art event offers a good entry point for thinking about the changed structure and nature of the art field, which interest us. In the first part of the present article, I will attempt to outline and briefly describe the sequence of major changes that have occurred in the art field since the early twentieth century, and especially in recent decades; in the second part, by analysing the art event and its specific embeddedness in the field, I will suggest a few points of departure for thinking about the potential workings and effects of this changed structure.
NEW! INSTITUTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ART
1
I am here using the phrase art event as a general term for the broad range of events organized for the public and carried out by artists in art institutions (actions, performances, gestures, happenings, interactive projects, etc.), as well as the same kind of events that happen outside the gallery and occasionally even without an audience, although almost always with the aim of being included in the same artistic sphere.
16 THE EVENT AS A PRIVILEGED MEDIUM IN THE CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD
In a world where institutions that treat and present contemporary art have become a permanent reality, it is hard to imagine that a little more than a hundred years ago such institutions did not exist anywhere, or at least there were only a very few. Today these institutions are of different kinds, most often exhibition spaces, while geographically, they can be found almost everywhere in the world, most densely, especially, in regions that have some version of the neo-liberal capitalist system and a fairly high standard of living. The institutions may be small and even have no physical structures, or they may